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The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) pickers says waste pickers should benefit from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The alliance was addressing the media this morning at the Durban ICC where the the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) is currently taking place.

GAIA Director Niel Tangri says waste pickers need to benefit directly from the funds to help sustain their trade. "We`re calling on the GCF to support waste pickers and to also have direct access to the funds. The GCF must not support only private sector. It's very important that the GCF is not hijacked by the private sector."

The GAIA says the funds of the GCF will be used to compound bio waste and to help pickers collect waste door-to-door from citizens. "In this GCF we want direct access for waste pickers. We disagree with the notion that the GCF focus on cooperatives because that does away with waste pickers," said South African Waste Pickers Association Simon Mbatha.

The World Bank will be the interim trustee of the GCF for three years when it comes into effect. "We don’t mind the World Bank being interin trustee as long as they don’t try and implement policy," added Tangril.

CDM projects taking away our livelihoods

Mbatha argues that the United Nations' backed Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) projects take away waste pickers livelihoods and does
not solve the problem of pollution.

"The CDM competes directly with us.
Incinerators do away with waste pickers. CDM projects are money making
methods. All CDM projects are managed by cooperatives and the projects
displace waste pickers."